Splacer

What: Splacer allows you to rent your home or office space by the hour for special events, like bridal showers and office parties

Commissions & fees: 15% of the rental amount

Husl$core: $$$$

Requirements: Space to rent that is acceptable to the platform. Be able to sign a legal contract and obtain any licenses necessary to rent out your real estate as a venue

Expected pay: $50 or more per hourly rental

Where: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago

Review:

Splacer is set up almost identically to its competitor Peerspace, with the major differences being that Splacer operates in fewer cities and is much less accepting of host cancellations.

How it works: If you have an apartment/home/studio/office/warehouse space that you think might serve as an appropriate venue for movies, photo shoots, bridal/baby showers , you can register on the site. If your location is approved, Splacer will allow you to upload photos and choose an hourly rental rate. You’ll provide Splacer with bank account information (so they can pay you) and they’ll market your space to the company’s clients. 

If rented, you’ll get 85% of the rental rate. Splacer charges a 15% commission to the host; and a 5% processing fee to the renter.

Like Peerspace, Splacer has a $1 million liability policy that covers owners if, for example, someone is hurt on the property or damages your space. (You should still check with your own property insurer to make sure your coverage is valid when you rent your space for commercial purposes. See our primer on Insurance for more information.) The site collects the full amount of the booking upfront and puts the payment in escrow until the day after the event. You get paid within a week of the event by direct deposit. 

However, where Peerspace lets you cancel one event in 6 months without penalty, Splacer imposes at least a $100 fee for any cancellation and may also charge a 5% processing fee. If you cancel more than one event in 6 months, you and your venue will be booted from the platform.

Is the cancellation policy too tough? We’re of mixed minds. On one hand, this is a big loss for hosts who might need to cancel in an emergency. On the other hand, it’s likely a selling point for party planners, who don’t want to risk a change of venue after their invitations have gone out and their party is planned.

Our take: Peerspace, Splacer, Avvay and ThisOpenSpace all do roughly the same thing and are all great money-making opportunities for a person with the right real estate.

However, Splacer’s the tight cancellation policy, the site’s more limited geographic footprint and slightly higher fees give Splacer a less-than-perfect Husl$core. That said, there’s no downside to signing up with all three platforms, as well as Giggster, which primarily rents space for movie sets. 

What their users say (from Facebook)

I’m a host and have found the whole process super easy and the Splacer team have been really responsive. It’s a cool tool that I’ve recommended to mates too.

Awesome team! I have been a host on Splacer for two years now and have had nothing but wonderful experiences with the 10+ events I have hosted. Their team is professional and have been incredibly helpful any time I have had questions or feedback.